


The Fire Down Below

by Brambleshadow_of_WindClan



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Crime, Gen, Mystery, Romance, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-18
Updated: 2011-08-18
Packaged: 2017-10-22 19:04:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/241482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brambleshadow_of_WindClan/pseuds/Brambleshadow_of_WindClan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crowfeather and Leafpool are meeting in secret when they witness a murder. Now they have to try to find out whodunit - and not be killed in the process. Of course, that's kinda hard to do when you suspect the killer is a Clan leader.</p><p>Based on "The Night Will Only Know" by Garth Brooks. The title comes from a line in that same song.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Leafpool doesn't have a mate in this songfic, but Crowfeather is still with Nightcloud. *shudders and makes a face at Nightcloud* The song is "The Night Will Only Know" by Garth Brooks. (And, yes, I am a fan.)**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own Warriors. Sorry. If I did, Leafpool and Crowfeather would still be together.**

 

 _That night will live forever  
Their first time to lie together  
THey were finally where desire dared them to go  
Both belonging to another  
But longing to be lovers  
Promising each other that the night will only know_

Leafpool rose from her nest in the warriors' den, careful not to wake any of the warriors, and crept out of the den. She hugged the shadows on the edge of camp until she found the secret escape route. The light brown tabby she-cat made her way up it easily, and raced for the WindClan border. With any luck, the cat she was hoping to meet would be there soon.

Near the WindClan - ThunderClan border, a dark gray tom crouched in the shadows, his blue eyes searching the undergrowth on the other side of the stream for the cat he loved-even more than Feathertail. Suddenly the bushes rustled and Leafpool stepped out. The moonlight shone on her white chest and paws, turning them to silver flame, and her amber eyes shone in the cold light. Crowfeather thought she had never looked more beautiful. He splashed through the border stream, water droplets spinning away from his fur as he pulled himself out on the other side. The dark gray tom pressed his muzzle into Leafpool's light brown fur, purring. Leafpool purred back and started winding her self around him.

 _Parked on some old backstreet  
They laid down in the back seat  
And fell into the fire down below_

 _But they would pay for their decieving  
For a deadly web was weaving  
Why they picked that spot that evening  
Lord, the night will only know_

 _Well within the innuendos  
Just outside the steamy windows  
The night was shattered by a woman's scream  
Motionless and frightened  
The grip of fate had tightened  
And with trembling hands they wiped away the steam_

Leafpool and Crowfeather were sharing tongues when the quiet of the night was broken by a yowl of fear. The two cats leaped to their paws, pressing their pelts close together. Trembling, they peered out of the foilage where they were hiding.

 _They saw a woman pleading  
Stumbling, begging, and retreating  
'Til she became the victim of her foe  
They watched her fall in silence  
To save their own alliance  
But the reason for the violence  
Just the night will only know_

They saw a she-cat pleading, stumbling, begging and running away as she tried to escape from something the lovers couldn't see. Then they saw a black shape leap from the shadows. The she-cat fell and they didn't move, hoping the creature wouldn't see that they were there.

"We'd better go," Crowfeather mewed softly in Leafpool's ear. She agreed, and they slunk away to thir camps. Tomorrow night was the Gathering, so Onestar and Firestar could report it then.

 _Every paper ran the story  
She was stripped of all her glory  
And they told exactly how the woman died  
Abandoned and forsaken  
Too many pills were taken  
And they ruled the woman's death a suicide_

The next night, Leafpool jumped down from the tree-bridge and made her way over to Crowfeather, who was a few fox-lengths away. Without speaking, they headed for the clearing where the Clans held Gatherings. The Clan leaders, Blackstar of ShadowClan, Onestar of WindClan, Firestar of ThunderClan, and Mistystar of RiverClan were already in the Great Oak. Cats from all four Clans mingled together, sharing Clan news and exchanging gossip.

Suddenly a yowl rippled through the clearing: "We gather beneath Silverpelt. . ." In other words, the Gathering was starting. Blackstar, the leader of ShadowClan-a large white tom with huge, jet-black paws-was speaking.

"ShadowClan will go first," he meowed. "Prey is plentiful, and we have little to report." He sat down and motioned with a flick of his tail for Mistystar to speak.

"RiverClan is well. We have a new litter of kits born to Duskfur. The apprentice Mossypaw has recieved her warrior name of Mossypelt."

"Mossypelt! Mossypelt!" the Clans cheered. Mistystar sat down and motioned for Firestar to go next. The flame-colored tom mewed, "ThunderClan has little to report," and sat down. Onestar went next.

"We found Swallowtail dead on the ThunderClan border!" he announced, staring at Firestar with his hackles up. The ThunderClan leader bristled.

"We had nothing to do with your warrior!" he spat. "Don't even try to accuse us of murdering Swallowtail."

"He didn't," Ashfoot mewed, looking up at Firestar from where she sat at the base of the Great Oak.

Crowfeather and Leafpool glanced at each other and quietly slipped away.

"How did your warrior die?" Mistystar asked.

"It looked like she fell over something and broke her neck."

Blackstar shuddered, then meowed, "Well, this Gathering is over."

And on that happy note, he leaped down and began calling his cats over to him. The other Clan leaders did the same

"Crowfeather, what are we going to do?" Leafpool asked once they sheltered in some bushes on the edge of the island. No cat would overhear them there.

"I don't know, Leafpool," Crowfeather meowed. "I don't know."

Leafpool pressed her muzzle into his dark fur, reassuring him. "I'd better go," she murmured. She stood up to go. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure."

Leafpool vanished into the bushes, leaving Crowfeather staring after her for a few heartbeats, then he went to join his Clan.

 _Bound by their behavior  
They could have been her savior  
Now guilt becomes the endless debt they owe  
But another crime was committed  
Though it's never been admitted  
Have the guilty been acquitted  
Lord, the night will only know_


	2. Chapter 2

_Crowfeather padded back to camp with_ the rest of the sunset hunting patrol the day after the Gathering, carrying a mouse in his jaws. He kept glancing over his shoulder nervously, searching the undergrowth for whatever had murdered Swallowtail. Try as hard as he might, he couldn't forget that night. Guilt swamped over him again. _We could have stopped it!_

Lost in thought, his nose bumped into the gorse wall protecting the WindClan camp. Stunned, he almost dropped his mouse, but regripped it tightly in his teeth before it could hit the ground. Behind him, Leaftail snarled, "Watch where you're going, Crowfeather! I almost ran into you!"

"Sorry," Crowfeather muttered around his mouse. Flicking his tail so it brushed against the brown tabby tom's nose, he weaved through the gorse tunnel into camp and dropped his mouse on the fresh-kill pile. The dark gray tom glanced around for Nightcloud and Breezepelt, but didn't see them. He padded over to the warriors' den and poked his head in. The two black WindClan warriors were safely asleep in their nests, and it looked like the rest of the Clan was turning in for the night.

Crowfeather lay in his nest feigning sleep for what seemed like moons. As soon as he was sure every cat was asleep, he quietly rose from his nest and picked his way out of the warriors' den. Breaking free of the gorse wall surrounding camp, he raced over the moor to his meeting spot with Leafpool.

The light brown tabby she-cat was waiting for him under a bush, but leaped out from under it when she saw him. Crowfeather splashed his way through the stream and buried his nose in her fur, drinking in her scent. The dark gray tom twined his tail with Leafpool's, a purr rising in his throat. "I've missed you," he murmured in her ear. In response, the dark gray tom felt her tongue rasp over his ear.

Unbidden, the memory of their last time in the woods filled his mind, and he flashed back to something Firestar had said at the Gathering. Onestar had said they'd found Swallowtail dead.

Firestar had said murdered.


	3. Chapter 3

_Crowfeather quickly drew back from Leafpool,_ sucking in his breath with a hiss. "Leafpool, we have to go. Now."

"Why?" Puzzlement lit her amber eyes.

"Firestar—" That was as far as the WindClan warrior got before a snarl came from the undergrowth behind Leafpool. Green eyes pierced the shadows, and Crowfeather knew what it was like to be prey under a hunter's claws. StarClan help me!

Leafpool gasped and whirled around, claws unsheathed, as the ThunderClan leader emerged from the bushes on her six. "What are you doing here?"

His flame-colored coat gleamed in the half-light. "What do you think?"

She didn't have an answer. Crowfeather, pelt bristling, took a step forward. "You killed Swallowtail, didn't you?" he accused.

Firestar's tail-tip twitched and his brilliant green eyes narrowed. "I mistook her for you. However . . ." His teeth bared in a snarl, the ginger tom leapt without warning, aiming for Crowfeather. The dark gray tom sidestepped, raking his claws down Firestar's side as he landed, skidding on the forest leaves.

"Why did you kill her—besides a case of mistaken identity?" Crowfeather demanded, pouncing on Leafpool's father.

Firestar rolled, crushing the WindClan cat underneath him, and scrabbled to his paws, watching the tom in front of him struggle to stand upright. "Can't you guess?"

Leafpool spoke up, but it was only to screech, "What did you think you were doing? You're not Tigerstar!" Her voice softened and became scathing as she went on, "I can guess. You were trying to stop me from seeing Crowfeather by killing him—or rather, Swallowtail, since you mistook her for him."

Firestar hardly noticed when Crowfeather left a v-shaped nick in his ear, so much like the scar he'd given Longtail when he first joined the Clan. "They're both dark gray and WindClan. It was an easy mistake to make."

The WindClan warrior's blue eyes narrowed. "How about we make a deal: You leave us alone and we'll forget this ever happened."

"Not bloody likely," Leafpool muttered under her breath.

Her father didn't appear to have heard her. Finally, he meowed, "Deal. Just watch your step, Crowfeather." The warning was clear, as the dark gray tom told him. When Firestar was covered by the thick foliage, the WindClan cat sighed with relief and pressed up against Leafpool, rasping his tongue over her ear. "Thank StarClan that's over."

"Are you going to tell Onestar?" she asked. "He deserves to know, and so do your Clanmates."

He sighed and was silent for a few heartbeats. "Yes, if I have to," he meowed. "Until then, let's just keep quiet for now. This could cause a war if we're not careful. I'll see you soon." On that happy note, he waded through the stream back to his own territory. Leafpool watched him go before heading back to camp. It wasn't long before he was invisible, his dark pelt blending in with the moor's earthy tones and the dark of the night.

All the while, the warriors of StarClan looked down from Silverpelt, watching the cats of the Clans they'd left behind.

 

 **This is the final chapter. Hope you guys are satisifed. I'm not so sure about the ending, though.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think.**

 **~~ Brambleshadow**


End file.
